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by Neophema Splendida
Summary: When all goes wrong, the Paladins return. Time travel au.


**Greetings! This story is a Time Travel AU that I couldn't find so I wrote. Enjoy!**

 **XXX**

They had lost.

It was the simplest explanation but it was the truest. Keith was laying there, bayard missing and drowning in a pool eerily similar to the paint job on Red. The Paladin's life force was slowly leaking out causing his eyelids to become so, so, heavy and almost impossible to keep awake. After Keith fell, Lance had gone ballistic, throwing himself into the incoming Galaran forces like a fire onto dry grass, giving the team defence as he looked like a demon straight out of Hell with the cut in his forehead running blood onto his features. Lance was no longer Loser Lance but rather the Paladin of The Blue Lion. Pidge was there, trying to help but she was petrified looking at the scene in front of her. Poor, poor Pidge who was only a child and children should not be in this type of conflict but there she was, one of the most important fighters in the war. And Hunk, sweet, sweet Hunk, was helping the slaves escape at the cost of becoming a human chopping board for the alien overlords.

Team Voltron had lost.

And Shiro accepted it.

Kneeling there, in front of Zarkon, with his Galaran arm missing and his cuts and bruises from the fight making some sick patchwork of pain. Watching as his Team -No, not Team, Family- being brutally beaten and killed, the Black Paladin accepted their loss at the hands of the Galaran Empire.

Takashi Shirogane accepted death.

Everything went white.

 **XXX**

Takashi Shirogane woke up.

No, not the battle hardened Paladin of Voltron or the Champion of the Galaran Empire that he is-or was- this is Shiro, the rookie recruit into the Garrison, who was on the team with Matt Holt-who was snoring just as loud as he remembered-and Sven Holgersson-the engineer who was lucky enough to be left behind-the Shiro who had just woken up before class like he had done every day before the Kerberos mission since joining the Garrison.

The Shiro who's head was full of raven locks and lacking a snow white tuft, the Shiro whose arms were both made of flesh and blood, the Shiro of the past.

Jumping out of bed, the Paladin raced to check the date. Just as he hoped, it was years before he had become a member of Team Voltron and two years before he was chosen to join the male members of the Holt family on a mission to outer space.

The Black Paladin was back, in time!

Getting dressed quickly into the Garrison uniform ready to rejoin his team (family) but just before he stepped out of the dorm he realised,

What if the others hadn't come back?

The Paladin visibly deflated at the idea but didn't continue on his original mission to find his team(family) but instead became Takashi Shirogane, Exploration Pilot, who was strangely protective of Matt but not Sven and the boy who liked the colour black and lions and space and aliens. The pilot who trained and trained waiting for his family, so that he was ready to face purple menaces and to protect those he cared about.

Shiro didn't become who he is but rather what he was.

At least that was the plan.

 **XXX**

Shiro's plan worked excellently for about three and a half months until Matt invited him and Sven to come to the Holt family's Christmas Lunch. Sven politely declined, instead opting to spend the break with his family. Shiro could have gone to Japan to see his folks over the holidays but opted not to and decided to go to the Lunch.

Now, standing awkwardly in front of the Holt's door, presents under arm (One for Mrs and Mr Holt, one for Matt and one for Pidge but she's Katie right now not Pidge), Shiro decides that maybe just maybe, he should've gone to Japan.

But when Matt opens the door and welcomes Shiro inside he decides that maybe, just maybe, this will be the best day he has had in a long time.

 **XXX**

The day starts out well, with Mrs and Mr Holt embracing him like a lost son and telling him to put the presents under the tree and to help himself to hot chocolate. Matt steals Shiro away from his parents when they break out the photo album-which Shiro is sure has a ton of blackmail material- and brings him to his room and they sit and laugh and play board games until they're called down for lunch.

When they eventually are called down, Katie doesn't join them and Mrs Holt asks Shiro to be a dear and just tell her that Lunch is ready. So Shiro climbs up the stairs and knocks at the door with a response of "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, just give me a sec." and there he is standing in front of a young girls room, waiting for her he is completely caught unaware when Katie Holt opens the door-

"Shiro?!"

-and it's not Katie Holt but Pidge Gunderson.

 **XXX**

Pidge awoke from never ending white to not the familiar warmth of the castle but rather her room. Or to be more precise, Katie Holts room. After deciding that no, this isn't a dream, Pidge-or rather Katie now-devised a plan.

She lied in wait, waiting for her chance to return but first certain events had to take place-like loosing her family but she knew where to find them-but those events were still a few years off so instead she honed her hacking skills and became GR33N, ace hacker who broke into nearly impossible files. She also trained her body because she did not want to be caught unprepared the second time around.

The plan worked for a few months until an outlier ran itself through her program.

That outlier was Takashi Shirogane standing outside her door on Christmas Day, waiting for her.

Before she could stop her self she spoke his name.

 **XXX**

Shiro's eyes widened almost comically before he speaks, confirming Katie's thoughts.

"Pidge?! Is that you?"

And for the first time in nearly four months, Katie breaks down, sobbing on Shiro as he hold her tight in one of his hugs. Shiro is doing no better, almost breaking his impossible wall to let the water works spill out as he hugs a sister that had been thought to be lost in the far reaches of space and time.

Pushing the stray hairs out of his teammates eyes, he looks down at her, hopeful and relived at the same time.

"Clean yourself up and come down to lunch, little bird , we can talk about this later."

And Katie nods faster than she has in ages, going back into her room to get cleaned up as fast as she could and Shiro swears he hears her say something along the lines of 'Yes Spacedad'.

Shiro chuckles and heads downstairs, rejoining the family.

 **XXX**

Lunch is cosier than what Shiro had been expecting, honestly. The way the Holts excepted the teen into their little family was giving the space pilot a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Looking over at Pidge, who had happiness on her face and stars in her eyes, he couldn't help but be reminded of the food fight that bought their team closer and helped the team become a family instead.

Once lunch is finished, Pidge drags Shiro away from the table (using his left arm, never, ever his right) who drags Matt along with him to the Christmas Tree with the older Holts staying behind for a moment to clear the table and to grab cameras. They sit in a semi circle around the tree with Matt grabbing a Santa hat and handing out the presents to the others.

Shiro was pleasantly surprised when Matt gave him not only one but three presents from the family, one from himself, his sister and his parents. He thanks the elder Holts for their gift of cash (What? He was a student for Lions sake! He needed it) and he laughs when he opens Matt's gift of extra socks ("You can never have enough socks!" Matt loudly defends.) but he almost cries when he opens Pidge's gift. There lying in his lap is a plush black lion with the familiar golden Voltron symbol stitched on its back. The animal is a reminder of peaceful times and not the ending that originally threw them back here.

While there was no snow and the carrots were a little burnt, both Shiro and Pidge can't deny that this was the best Christmas that they had ever had.

 **XXX**

A few weeks after the original Christmas meeting, the two Paladins finally get some time to talk to each other alone in a quaint little tea shop by the Garrison.

"So..." Shiro started but that was all he had to say before the the younger took over.

"I can't believe that we're back! I mean the last thing I remember was the fight on the Galaran mothership. But we're back? Does that mean the others are back too? Lance, Keith, Hunk, Allura and Coran? How are we back? We should all be dead! Could it have been a wormhole? I doubt it..."

Shiro lets her ramble on for a good few minutes before grounding her to earth. He suggests that in two weeks they meet here again and then go to Keith's outback shack and hope for the best. (Shiro swears that he has seen Keith being all Emo at the Garrison a few times in the past months.)

Pidge deems it a good idea and leaves, taking her drink with her.

 **XXX**

The day that Keith woke up was bittersweet.

Bitter because once again he was the lonely orphan who had no family or friends and that was more of a loose cannon than a solider who stood in line.

The kid who no one cared about.

Sweet because he was back, back to a time without his heritage bothering anyone, a time without Zarkon, a time without war.

It was a time in which he could change everything.

He starts by training. Doing lots and lots of training, from fighting styles to defensive moves to different types of sword fighting, he needs to be ready. He also starts to pay attention in class a little more just in case there was something he missed the first time around, besides, once he got into the Garrison he was good to go.

So when the doorbell of his rickety little shack rings one day and in front of him is a younger Shiro and Pidge standing there, Keith decides that the day is sweet like honey but warm like a hug from his teammates(family).

 **XXX**

When Shiro and Pidge see Keith standing in the doorway of his rickety old shack about to burst into tears, collectively they decide that the drive here in freezing weather was worth it and when the boy jumps on them for a teary group hug they also decide that tonight they are going to marathon cheesy sitcoms in a indestructible pillow kingdom. But first they had more important things to take care of.

"You guys are really here!"

Like a almost sobbing Red Paladin who is currently squishing them in a rare group hug.

So after assuring Keith that yes, they were real, and no, they're not a dream, the trio set to work. Together they agreed that they all needed to train and that they would all meet at the little tea shop near the Garrison every Saturday. Together they agreed to protect everyone, their team, their friends, their family.

(But first they built a ginormous kingdom from anything plush and sat together during the night as they were all lulled to sleep by cheesy laughter spewing from the T.V)

 **XXX**

Through out the next two months Shiro, Pidge and Keith continue to meet at the tea shop,

("It's a tea house Keith, not a tea shop!"

"I get it Pidge, I get it-ow! Stop hitting me with that book!"

"Children, please, we're in public")

and discuss various things, from alien races they encountered in their travels or the stupidity that was Lance but when the laughter fade away, more serious topics are bought to hand. One such issue is the Kerberos mission. Pidge was strongly against the idea of letting her family back into that ship, resulting in her rather boldly declaring "No!" in one of their outings, which caused the group to gain a few stares from the other customers. Eventually they reached an agreement, Shiro would go on the mission but would try to gain extra information on the Galara.

Occasionally, Lance and Hunk came up in their conversations. Together, the three decided not to reach out to them, after all, in about three weeks the Garrison would hold orientation for young cadets. The Green and Red Paladins would be going but would pretend to be strangers to maximise the hope of them being together in a team. They would score the exact same as the first time around and would act how Katie and Keith of this timeline would. Shiro himself had asked to be a tour guide to help further the plan.

So, the three lions laid in wait for their prey.

 **XXX**

Shiro got up early (as always) but this time there was a slight pep in his step. He, Takashi Shirogane, got an entire day to walk around with his other Paladins of Voltron. Of course he hadn't told the others that he was their guide, No, that would ruin the surprise.

Pidge was going to enter the school as Katie and gain information on the Garrison under the alias of GR33N. This time round, there was no need for Pidge other than a nickname for others to call her and a way to introduce herself when incognito on alien planets.

Keith was going to enter as a co-pilot this time round, in hopes of getting on a four man team with the others. Eventually though, he would get expelled, leaving him to gather information on the Blue Lion and to make sure everything is in working order.

The last two names on Shiro's list definitely should be a surprise to Red and Green.

 **XXX**

Lance and Hunk had been together a long time before the Garrison. When they were six, the two became inseparable. Thank Coran's logic defying moustache that the fact mentioned before was true in this timeline.

When the self proclaimed womaniser leapt out of bed because damn it his alarm had been blaring it's obnoxious BEEP-BEEP-BEEP at him for the past half hour and all he wanted was for a solid eight hours beauty sleep but between trying to save the entire universe and his fellow Paladins that was an almost impossible feat. So the others can go stuff it-wait a minute. This room was not his room on the castle, or the familiar whirling electronics of Blue but rather his old room at home which still had glow in the dark stars that didn't really work stuck on the ceiling. This was his room, the room with collectable figurens that date back to when he was a child. This was his room which had duck tape covering a hole that he had caused when he had swung the door a bit to violently open. This was his room, from a time before Voltron, before the Galra, before war.

Hoping that Hunk hadn't forgotten how they walked together to school since they first became friends, Lance opened the window, forgetting about his face mask and frankly not caring about it, to see Hunk, sweet, loveable, Hunk, standing there waiting for him.

Getting dressed as quick as he could, which took a while (looking good took time people!), he finally made it outside to see Hunk, sweet, loveable, best-cook-in-the-entire-castle, Hunk. Almost causing the other Paladin to fall down as he hugged him Lance cried. Because they were back, they weren't dead, they could change everything!

One of the first rules if the Garrison was when lost in space, stop and wait for rescue. The two did exactly that. Following the course of history, moving with the current, the two waited for their friends. They waited for Pidge to find them with her technology skills. They waited for Keith to find them using his contacts and knowledge of the earth. They waited for Shiro because they trusted Shiro, he was their leader and a leader never leaves team members behind.

 **XXX**

Shiro wishes he bought a camera with him to orientation day. The look on his team's face is hilarious. Once they finally realised that yes, this was Team Voltron and yes, they would be working together at the Garrison for the remainder of their time on earth. Once the shocked silence broke, the waterworks came flooding in from the Yellow, Green and Blue Paladins but Shiro swears he can see tears glistening in Keith's eyes.

The rest of the day is spent 'touring' the Garrison. The 'tour' is really just Pidge hacking into the Garrison mainframe and stealing even more secrets. During the walks from point A to point B, the team decides that they will train. They would train their brains and bodies and they would be the best Paladins to ever be apart of Voltron.

Hunk would train his mind and body so that he could be the best cook/engineer in the entire fleet.

Pidge would train her mind and body so that she could go incognito at the drop of the hat and also provide tech support to the team.

Shiro would train his mind and body so that he could be the best leader that the others could find comfort in.

Keith would train his mind and body so that he could take on any enemy and best them in any fight.

Lance would train his mind and body so that he could have an expansive knowledge on flying and help his entire team.

 **XXX**

When the Kerberos mission is announced to be missing the remaining Paladins have a sigh of relief. Their plan of sticking the male Holts with tracking beckons is simply genius, they can dim the two quicker than before and can ensure that the Galara are none the wiser of the significance of the duo.

They can only hope that Shiro will be alright.

Until the Black Paladin comes crashing to earth, they train and spend as much time leaving no regrets behind.

And so they wait.

 **XXX**

When the night of the crash landing came, the Paladins couldn't be more excited. Pidge was on the roof top, keeping an eye on the Comms, while the others packed their things for space. They each packed a suitcase of clothing and other essentials with another suitcase full of earth food (They were not missing out on Oreos the second time around, thank you very much!).

When Shiro fell, the four raced out, making sure they were the first there. Dragging Shiro out of the ship was an epic to say the least. Looking this way and that they sped to Keith's cabin, forgetting about the Garrison and earth and only worrying about space. The next morning, they would go to Blue and start their adventure again.

XX **X**

Lance's reunion with Blue was emotional to say the least. It turned out the Lions returned with their Paladins so the scene in front of them was simply heartwarming. The others just watched and assured themselves that their reunion with their own lions would be just as tear jerking.

After the blue duo confirmed that yes, they were back, Blue opened her mouth to grant entrance and take Team Voltron to the Castle of the Lions. As Lance piloted Blue into the wormhole, Team Voltron decided that if they had been given a second chance, they would not fail.

This time, Voltron would win.


End file.
